Wild Creatures

Chapter 93

09.00 am Sunday

Once they were sure that it was daylight outside and the vampires that had been trying to invade the Lan compound were truly and utterly perished, because dead didn't mean quite the same thing regarding them, Uncle Qiren opened the thick metal doors of the panic room.

"Let us organise breakfast and tea first, and then we can either rest or talk, as you wish," he said to XiChen.

"Whatever you feel up to," XiChen replies, seeing for the first time, new wrinkles of worry on his Uncle's face.

As his children, and they were because Uncle Qiren was no less of a parent to himself and Lan WangJi, it was easy to overlook the struggles of their elder, because they were so strong both mentally and physically.

But after a long night such as they had all experienced together, XiChen could wait until their uncle had rested properly.

He and MingJue carried a child each, happy that A-Yuan and A-Yi had slept through the night, minimally disturbed as all children should be.

"I will rest after some tea," Uncle Qiren decides. "They should continue to sleep as much as they can, since they will ask about their parents as soon as they wake." He looked unhappy about that.

To while the hours away, XiChen had to tell him about where his other nephew was, and what had happened to them at the award ceremony. His uncle had looked angry at first, fast replaced by worry.

XiChen was cautious about saying anything more than necessary because they weren't alone, and yet their staff didn't seem surprised, not by what they were talking about, nor the gruesome scenes outside.

Thankfully, Cangse Sanren's wards had succeeded in keeping out unwanted intruders, and all the members of the Lan household were safe and secure.

Breakfast was served informally on the kitchen table, and the staff mysteriously disappeared, though XiChen would guess that since they took their duties seriously, they had gone outside to clean up the mess.

Uncle Qiren looked so much better after a few sips of his steaming cup of jasmine tea.

It was just the three of them now, quietly munching away on warm toast with melted butter, and muffins that Da Tuzi liked to keep on hand for emergencies.

"So, what would you like to know?" Uncle Qiren levels his gaze at his eldest nephew.

XiChen has to think about that.

"How did you find out about vampires, I think that's my first question."

"I guessed at it, first." Uncle Qiren stroked his whiskers, deep in thought. "Whenever I talked with Wei Changze, and Cangse Sanren, I always had the impression that they knew more than they were giving away, and sometimes they said the most cryptic things. And the strangest thing was that Da Tuzi knew what they meant, and I began to watch him. He never aged. That was my first clue."

"Did you ask him about that?" XiChen is incredulous about that.

Da Tuzi was a vampire?? Their butler? Who XiChen had known since he was a baby??

But Uncle Qiren tells him what he knows about that, that Da Tuzi was saved by a vampire, and that's how he had discovered that not all of them were bad.

"Did A-Xian's parents know that you knew?" XiChen asks him.

"They suspected, but it wasn't something we discussed openly. It didn't change how I felt about them, and they must have felt comfortable enough to keep coming back here. I was sorry to hear they passed." Uncle Qiren drains his cup, and stands up. "I must be feeling my age. I shall go and lie down now, and the children won't be scared if I'm there."